Board Game Research - Guards! Guards!

Guards! Guards!
Based off the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett but not just limiting the content to just the book but the entire discworld and all of the people there, this game was published by the same company behind The Walking Dead.

The style of this game is very fantasy like with bold "magical" colours and a very ancient feel. The theme that the game was following was very obviously that of Discworld, a world created by Terry Pratchett for his very long line of books.

The board utilises hexes again but not all the sides are connected to another hex, there is pathways for you to take, this confines players to narrow spots allowing them to use their guild abilities on them or try to infect them with the pox. The board is also split into 4 quadrants relating to the 4 different guilds in which saboteurs can be placed  to try and stop spell runs made by players. However the player is free to move wherever they want rather than just moving along a series of boxes like the traditional board games. Each player does not have to roll a dice but can move up to 6 spaces in a single turn. This gives a lot of strategy and flexibility and adds to the competitivness of the game.
 

 
At the beginning of the game, each player must select a guild (out of Assassins, Thieves, Fools and  Alchemists) which each have a special guild ability waiting to catch out anyone who comes within 2 spaces of you. 3 red wooden blocks are given to mark the current stats of your guild as well as showing you the 5 different spell colours that you must go and college. It also gives details on your special ability and the two sabotages that you can do. The guild card is good as it allows you to see at a glance how well you are doing, which spells you have as well as keeping track of your current stats. Each guild card is different meaning you get a different game each time that you play. Each player also receives 2 volunteer cards in the form of a "Lords and Ladies" and "Man and Beasts" card. They are also given spell returned tokens (to cover the spells you have returned on your card) and 5 gold wooden cylinders (to mark on the board how many challenges you have completed) as well as 5 dollars.

The game utilises a D8 dice (which has 8 sides rather than the normal 6). Most die that have more than 6 sides are usually associated with more geeky style of playing. The extra two sides on the dice allows for a lot more versatility with the game meaning you have have higher numbers and the increase in the stats are higher and therefore harder to get to the top making the game last a lot longer. The stats of your guild add to your rolls, for example if you needed to get a 6+ for a charm roll but you have +2 to your charm then you would only need to roll 4+ in order to pass. Rolling a 1 will always fail even if you have to roll 4 and you have +4 to a stat, you will still have to roll the dice and get 2+. Adding to your dice roll or anything that makes your dice roll better or alters it in anyway is a good thing, it allows you to have an advantage over your opponents and adds a new layer to the gameplay.

In order to complete the game, the player must pick up volunteers for their hand by visiting the various taverns around the town. Each of the volunteers are split into 3 categories: "Lord and Ladies", "Man and Beasts" and "Shades and Shadows". Each of the categories has better statistics is certain areas for example, "Man and Beasts" generally have a higher streetwise skill that other categories. Upon moving to a tavern, the player must either take the top face-down card of the category they are recruiting or the top face-up card that has been left by another player. Each card has a charm value that the player must roll their D8 to get equal to or higher than that number (remembering add any stats that you have to that dice roll. If successful they get the card and if unsuccessful they can either bribe with money or they have to put the card face-up in the face-up pile. Each of the cards has stats on them individual to only them and are used in completing challenges or fighting other players but upon picking up the card you must check for any luggage moves (which moves around the map along a path and if you are hit with it you must go to hospital and miss a turn), if you have any stat changes (for example the card on the right has +1 to charm so you move the red wooden block up 1 on your charm stat and that stays there for the rest of the game regardless of whether you still have the card or not), a fate symbol ( a red "F"that means you pick up a fate card which can either affect you or everyone in the game). Other symbols such as the Mark of the Brethren mark seen at the bottom of the left card or the Wanted text is specific to the card and is used for other abilities in the game. The cards that contain statistics are very good as it gives a very geeky feel to the game and make it far more interesting to play for that specific niche of people. The illustrations on the card and the description relate to the character in the book and includes a quote from that character to add a very discworld feel to the game.

The aim of the game is to make your way to the 5 (out of 8, the colours correspond to your guild card) great spells on the board. Upon reaching them you then have to attempt a spell run and send 4 volunteers in your deck. You choose which quadrants that you wish to move through and then any players can use their saboteurs places in those quadrants to try and stop you or make you lose your characters. Once you have reached the end of your spell run, you must then complete the qizards challenge working up from easier to harder to complete and you use the stats on the volunteers you have sent such as streetwise and then roll the dice to try and get equal to or higher than the number you have to beat. The last spell run involves you having to actually move your piece to the end of your start game and beat the last challenge to win.


The game has many other elements in it including scrolls and items that you can use against your opponents or use to enhance your dice rolls and fighting. There is also dragons, the pox, the luggage and others which all adds to the depth of the game and makes it interesting time and time again.


Conclusion
The game is incredibly geeky with a lot of very complex rules that only the most dedicated must learn to play and enjoy but once you have learnt everything, it is indeed enjoyable and fun. The game is extremely competitive with everything being revolved around sabotaging and hindering the progress of your opponents by using the luggage to send them to hospital or summoning dragons so they cannot collect their great spell without taking it down first. The style of the game is very nice as well with everything fitting together nicely with the theme of Discworld.